Social networking and marketing during a recession

One of the key findings from my article, Economic Strategy for Associations, was that spending on traditional marketing tactics will decrease while online spending is expected to increase in 2009.

And from everything I've seen and heard, no one has escaped the ill effects of the current economic downturn. Every day, association professionals are being asked to slash their budget and do more with less. At the same time, there is a sense of urgency around including social networking tactics in their efforts to recruit and retain members. And why not? It costs a lot less than sending out a direct mail campaign.

So how do you get started? Here are two tips that I think should help. Please comment if you have other ideas.

1. Before you put a lot of time and energy into launching a blog (or relaunching a blog) or trying to drive traffic to your Facebook page, find out how your members are interacting online.

For example, are your members more likely to create their own blogs, comment on someone else's blog, tag pages or photos or maintain a profile on a social networking site? Maybe your members prefer to read other members' ratings and postings on your online forums.

Understanding where your members fall on the Social Technographics ladder (Source: Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff) will help you create a truly effective social media strategy rather than just "building it and hoping people will come."

So what does this all mean? If you want your online marketing tactics to be successful you need to first understand how your members are interacting online and then create opportunities for them to interact with you and each other.

2. Improve your return on your marketing investment by understanding what types of communications are considered the most trustworthy by your members and prospects.

For example, do your members place a high trust in recommendations from colleagues or friends and a low trust in advertisements and brochures? If you don't know the answer to this question then you may be wasting a lot of money on ineffective marketing tactics.

A recession creates both a challenge and an opportunity. I'd love to hear how others are using this opportunity to reinvent how they are marketing to members and prospects.

Comments

[Rebecca Rolfes]

The numbers in your study are really interesting but contradictory. I would have liked more (any) analysis. See what you think of my thoughts and let's keep the conversation going. http://www.imaginepub.com/leaderconnect/statistics-that-lie/

[Authority Networker]

Many marketers are attracted to internet network marketing and social media because of the reduced costs compared to expensive television, radio and newspaper ads. Today's internet users want personal interactions with those they do business with before they make a buying decision. Social media marketing for instance, which taps into a familiar concept called attraction marketing or magnetic sponsoring, lets you build relationships with your targeted audience. Social media sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and Digg can help establish your presence in a number of different places on the Web. Traditional marketing will never be able to target as precisely as social media marketing. Just imagine the social media profit you can have in being able to recruit people from different places.